If you have been a hardcore American Idol fan over the course of the last decade, you just might remember Corey Clark. But probably not for his singing. The American Idol alum is better known for getting kicked off the show after failing to inform the producers of a past arrest. Now, he’s suing MTV for defamation? Why? Keep reading to find out!

Corey Clark thinks he has been slandered by MTV’s Jim Cantiello. The experience was apparently traumatic enough to be worth $40 million, because that’s the amount for which Clark is suing MTV. To ask for that sort of money, MTV must have really done something awful to Clark, right? Something like, (gasp) hinting that Corey Clark may not have been entirely honest about certain claims he made after being kicked off of American Idol.

Clark’s big beef with MTV and, in particular, Jim Cantiello, is that the writer was, “abusing the constitutional privledges of ‘freedom of the press’ … with the intent to permanently impair his state property rights and decimate his mental well-being.” Clark does have a point, in that many of Cantiello’s claims were over the top, and often, unsubstantiated. For example, Cantiello accused Corey Clark of being an “alleged sister-beater” after the charges had been dropped. Cantiello then proceeded to advise others to boycott Clark’s music. The tactic may have worked, because Clark has obviously not been a hit musician since his time on American Idol.

Corey Clark may have a case against MTV and Jim Cantiello, but $40 million? Does that not seem a bit excessive? At least Clark is getting a little attention again, even if, as usual, it’s for all the wrong reasons.

One Response to “American Idol’s Corey Clark Sues MTV For Defamation”

The distinction that Clark is alleging is what we the public think we know as facts, are indeed fictitious false statements made about him by Idol & Viacom to shed Clark in an unfavorable false light. “If” Clark is telling the truth, Viacom & anyone else who defamed Clark are in trouble for this. Not only does it prove that what they did worked, it also means Clark is going to win this lawsuit after enduring that many years of defamation. According to the complaint on E! Online, Clark made Viacom aware years ago that what they were broadcasting and publishing about him was indeed defamatory & they continued to disseminate false facts about Clark to the public anyway with reckless disregard for the truth. Furthering whatever agenda the writer seemed to have against Clark. On top of that the libelous information is still available online for the millions of people worldwide that visit that site daily after being put on notice that it was defamatory! This isn’t good for Viacom. Many of you are under the false impression that freedom of the press grants the press the uncontested right to say anything about anyone that they want to & that’s not the law. In fact it’s abusive of the law & makes things worse for actual journalists with integrity hence the high punitive damges against MTV he’s asking for. That amount is not what he’s claiming he’s lost, it’s to punish the defendants for maliciously attacking him all of these years & to deter other similarly situated news organizations from doing the same, but I’m just a lowly attorney from California who isn’t on this case so what do I know right?? ;o)